The father of the Indian student who was shot dead in Salford on Boxing Day has called for justice for his son and pleaded with the UK to ensure that foreign students are better protected in future.

Anuj Bidve, a 23-year-old engineering student from Pune, in western India, died after he was shot in the head while visiting Manchester with a group of fellow Indian students.

Kiaran Stapleton, 20, of Ordsall, has been charged with his murder and remanded in custody.

Bidve's parents arrived in the UK on Wednesday to bring his body home. They met Keith Vaz, the chairman of the home affairs select committee, in Westminster on Thursday.

The family is due to return to India on Friday, and will visit the scene of the murder in Ordsall Lane, Salford, during the morning.

Flowers and candles have been left by wellwishers. Earlier this week, hundreds of residents took part in a vigil.

Speaking outside parliament, Bidve's father, Subhash, said he hoped no parent would have to endure a similar ordeal.

"It was really unfortunate that I lost my son," he said. "But I feel myself as a father this should not happen again because a lot of Indian students come here for their education and they go back to their own countries.

"I humbly request to you all kindly do justice for Anuj and kindly make sure that students who come here for their studies … they have their own studies and go back to their own countries."

He described his son as "really straightforward, very disciplined, very softly spoken and very friendly to everyone, and a very good son to me". He added: "I wanted to give him the best. As a father that's what I wanted."

He said he had been very happy while studying for a micro-electronics postgraduate qualification at Lancaster University, and that his death was a terrible loss to his field.

"He was a very great asset not just to India but the whole globe – that was the kind of work he was doing," he said.

Vaz said he had promised the Bidves a full report on their son's death, adding: "As a parent myself, I cannot imagine the grief that Mr and Mrs Bidve are going through.

"They want to know what happened. They were due to come to England in September for his ceremony of convocation. They never thought they would come in circumstances of this kind.

"Unless they have full information there can never be closure, because they simply can't understand how this has happened."

Vaz also said he had passed on the condolences of many wellwishers during his 35-minute meeting with the family.

"There are many people who have contacted me who wish to acknowledge the memory of Anuj and express their sadness as to what has happened," he said. "I have therefore asked them to contact the family direct. They are very keen to set up a fund – not the family, but the people who have contacted us – to honour the memory of Anuj and to help the family.

"I will pass all that information directly on to the family. That is at very early stages, of course, but it was important that the family knew about it."

The select committee chairman and MP for Leicester East also called on Facebook to reopen Bidve's homepage at the request of his family.

Shortly after the murder, it emerged that the student's father had found out about his son's death on Facebook before police in the UK could contact him.

Vaz said the family felt this was the only way many people could leave tributes and express condolences for their son, and contact them directly.